Madrid, Sep 1 (IANS) Rayo Vallecano drew 1-1 against FC Barcelona in the Vallecas Stadium on Sunday, halting the latter’s perfect start to the La Liga season.

The draw maintained the good feeling for Rayo fans after the club qualified for the group stage of the UEFA Conference League on Thursday, and if it hadn’t been for a stunning display from Barca goalkeeper Joan Garcia, Rayo would have taken all three points.

Garcia made several excellent saves to keep the score level as Rayo pushed for a winner in the last half hour, after Fran Perez had cancelled out Lamine Yamal’s first-half penalty with a volley from corner.

Barca had taken the lead from the spot after the referee penalized Pep Chavarria for a challenge on Yamal at a moment when the VAR connection from the ground wasn’t working.

The home players protested the decision strongly, but with no VAR review, the decision stood.

The result leaves Barca two points behind Real Madrid, who won 2-1 at home to Mallorca on Saturday, with two goals in two minutes from Arda Guler and Vinicius Jr cancelling out Vedat Muriqi’s early opener for the visitors.

Real Madrid has three wins from three games, the same as Athletic Bilbao, who won 2-1 away to Real Betis on Sunday.

Athletic took the lead in the 60th minute when Marc Bartra deflected Yuri Berchiche’s cross into his own net, and Aitor Paredes headed in Athletic’s second with five minutes left to play.

Cedric Bakambu pulled Betis into the game deep into injury time, but the home side had no time for an equalizer.

Borja Iglesias scored a 94th-minute equalizer to save a point for Celta Vigo and deny Villarreal a 100 percent start to the campaign.

Villarreal had looked to be on the way to three points after Nicolas Pepe opened the scoring in the 53rd minute.

Carlos Romero scored the only goal in the 52nd minute as Espanyol won 1-0 at home to Osasuna.

–IANS

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